Chapter 26: Azure Cloud (4)

Zhang Duixue held his sword, looking at the tall and lean figure in front of him, gripping the hilt tighter.

The early spring wind was still a bit cold. After taking off his outer robe, the chill seeped into his body through the gaps in his clothes, clearing his mind. He stood firmly in the center of the training grounds, drew his sword, and let out a long breath, suppressing the anger that had just been provoked by someone.

The young man who had provoked him was currently standing at the edge, arms crossed, staring at him along with the senior brother in charge of the assessment. With a faint smile, he looked as if he was waiting to see Zhang Duixue make a fool of himself.

In fact, ever since he got together with the Young Palace Master, people had always been watching to see him fail. Later, the Young Palace Master took action to rectify the situation several times. Those people dared not say anything to his face but would gossip in private. Seeing such looks often, he had become numb to them.

He couldn’t be bothered to pay attention.

The cold iron nestled in his palm, the texture of the hilt a bit rough against his hand. Having lived a pampered life in recent years, the calluses he had developed from working before had been smoothed away by Jade Appearance Cream. When he gripped too tightly, his fingertips would even ache.

However, this pain made him even calmer.

The wooden puppet opposite him had no face carved, only two dots of ink on its smooth head for eyes. At first glance, it looked a bit comical, but when it drew that imitation Guili Sword, those two pitch-black dots seemed to gain a soul, truly emanating an intimidating aura of slashing heaven and earth, advancing indomitably.

Fifty years ago at the Nine Luminaries Grand Competition, Qin Tan suppressed all the outstanding talents, becoming the top of the Azure Cloud List, famous throughout the Nine Provinces, peerless in the world. The recording stone of his final battle in the arena had been copied countless times and was still selling like hotcakes today.

Zhang Duixue had watched that recording thousands of times, filled with admiration. His biggest dream as a child was to join the Sword Sect and become a sword cultivator who was good at fighting, so he would be bullied less.

It was just that later, the Young Palace Master suddenly fell in love with him, valued him, and cherished him. Those hardships before his eyes were all blown away like the wind, and learning to fight seemed no longer necessary.

He put on dignified and elegant robes, braided his hair with beautiful and complex accessories, and his daily routine was simply to light a stick of incense beside the Young Palace Master while he silently recited scriptures.

Lighting incense, arranging flowers, intimacy – he spent most of his time on these things.

Zhang Duixue only needed to accompany the Young Palace Master, and the other party would protect him, life after life, never leaving or abandoning him.

No one in this world dared to bully him anymore. He didn’t have to practice swordsmanship painstakingly; the Young Palace Master would teach him the most profound Daoist techniques personally. He no longer needed to be obsessed with the Sword Sect.

It was just a small regret of his youth, not worth mentioning.

But the Young Palace Master felt sorry for him after all.

Hearing that Qin Tan would enter Azure Cloud Academy to teach this year, to fulfill his wish, the Young Palace Master worked overtime in advance to handle many affairs, finally freeing up two years of free time to bring him to see the world.

Today, his wish came true. He could finally personally experience just how strong the sword intent of the Guili Sword Master was.

The sword momentum was like the wind, falling swiftly. When it cut through the air, a short and sharp whistling sound could be heard, like the long cry of a phoenix.

Zhang Duixue raised his hand to block the puppet’s first strike, instantly feeling as if he had hit a giant rock. The web of his thumb and index finger suddenly cracked, and the long sword nearly flew out of his hand. He gripped it desperately, a line of crimson instantly seeping from his palm. He knelt heavily on the ground, trembling all over.

So strong.

Even stronger than he imagined!

Outside, Xie Xuanxiao’s face changed drastically. He strode to the edge of the arena and said to the assessing senior brother, suppressing his anger, “He’s injured, stop quickly!”

“It’s just the web of the hand that cracked, not his head. People aren’t made of glass, are you afraid he’ll shatter?” The assessing senior brother looked at him inexplicably, with a hint of mockery in his eyes. “Besides, this is Azure Cloud Academy, not Yuanchen Palace. Can the academy’s assessment be stopped just because you want it to?”

“Young Palace Master Xie, restrain your young master temper.”

Xie Xuanxiao’s brows tightened. A moment later, he heard a teasing voice, “Anyway, it’s already started, why not finish this match? Besides, for this quarter of an hour, he might not necessarily be able to hold on, right?”

It was the young man who had picked a fight just now. Dressed in blue robes, looking plain and poor, with a long sword hanging at his waist, he was leaning on the stone railing beside the arena, propping up his head and staring unblinkingly at Zhang Duixue, who was fleeing in a sorry state in the field.

Seeing Zhang Duixue caught up by the puppet and kicked several meters away, before Xie Xuanxiao could feel distressed, the person beside him suddenly cupped his hands around his mouth and shouted loudly, “Is this all you’ve got? Coming to the assessment dressed like that, I thought you were very strong? You can’t even handle three moves?”

“Little beauty, you’d better admit defeat quickly and go home with your companion to braid hair!”

A burst of low laughter immediately came from the crowd of onlookers.

Zhang Duixue rolled several times on the ground. Originally about to collapse, hearing this ridicule, he found strength from somewhere and scrambled up hatefully. A layer of skin on his palm had been completely rubbed off, leaving a bright red palm print on the pale ground. He dodged several consecutive sword strikes in a sorry state.

Seeing blood, Xie Xuanxiao’s pupils contracted. He turned around, grabbed the young man by the collar, and lifted him up. Manic killing intent was suppressed in his cold pupils, “Shut your dog mouth!”

However, that person wasn’t afraid of him. His eyelashes lifted slightly, filled with arrogance, “What? Does the Young Palace Master of Yuanchen Palace not allow people to tell the truth?”

Xie Xuanxiao was truly annoyed. Looking at this kid who didn’t know the immensity of heaven and earth, he parted his thin lips lightly, vowing to teach this third-realm minor cultivator an unforgettable lesson. Unlike the Sword Sect, Yuanchen Palace mastered the Dao of techniques. The immortal scripts circulating in the Nine Provinces today were basically all released after interpretation by Yuanchen Palace.

“Ten Thousand Blades.”

If this sound were imprinted on a person, it could make them experience the pain of death by a thousand cuts for a day and a night.

But before the incantation could land, his back was bumped by someone. Then a tall figure suddenly darted out from behind, flicked his sleeve to intercept the incantation, turned sideways to block in front of the blue-robed youth, and grabbed his wrist, “Let go!”

Xie Xuanxiao was extremely furious, “Get lost!”

Having been scolded, Fu Fengyan naturally had to talk back. He searched his brain for a long time and thought of a fresh term, so he frowned and coldly cursed back, “You black-hearted child bride-in-law! If you don’t let go, I’m going to hit you!”

He Tingtong: “…” He really couldn’t hold it back this time and laughed out loud.

Xie Xuanxiao’s expression changed, and he became truly angry.

A trace of pitch-black spiritual flame floated out from him uncontrollably, and the air twisted slightly. However, before it could dissipate, their hands gripping each other were forcefully knocked open by a stick.

“Hey hey hey, fighting is not allowed inside the academy!” The assessing senior brother held a sword horizontally between them, giving each of them a whack. “What are you arguing about? Go back and line up, or get out!”

Xie Xuanxiao forcibly suppressed his anger. He secretly memorized the two faces in front of him, ignored them, and turned his head to watch Zhang Duixue’s test.

He Tingtong stood firm. Fu Fengyan came over to adjust his collar, smoothing out the wrinkles, and then imitated He Tingtong’s posture, crossing his arms. The two of them stood there like prickly thorns, very arrogant.

“And you two, go back and line up!” The assessing senior brother’s gaze fell on the sword at He Tingtong’s waist, leaned closer, and scolded in a low voice, “Don’t think I dare not punish you just because you have connections with the Sword Sect. If you cause trouble, I’ll still cross your names off!”

“Senior brother, don’t be angry, we’ll go back right now.” He Tingtong pushed Fu Fengyan’s shoulders and back, smiling as he returned to the line with him.

On the other side, Zhang Duixue was sent flying by a sword strike, his body crashing heavily to the ground. The gentle and elegant beauty’s hair was disheveled, his forehead was broken, and his face was half bloody and half bruised. It could be said he was in an extremely sorry state. Only those pitch-black eyes stared at the wooden puppet in front like a wolf, gleaming with fierce light.

He had no thoughts left in his mind, only the word ‘win’. No matter how painful or tired, he had to hold on. He absolutely could not let Xie Xuanxiao be ashamed because of him.

He was not some vase! Nor was he some cauldron! He was the lover chosen by Xie Xuanxiao, standing upright beside him!

Gritting his teeth, he climbed up, supported himself with the sword, and forcibly took several more moves. His wrist bones were shaken to the point of pain. He retreated repeatedly, his heels almost touching the edge of the arena. His palm was a bloody mess, a layer of skin peeled off. He gripped so tightly that the sword hilt seemed to sink into his flesh, forcibly holding onto one breath to block the stormy attacks.

This quarter of an hour seemed as long as a lifetime.

Finally, a bell rang, and the mechanism on the puppet stopped. The wooden sword hovered in front of the teetering Zhang Duixue’s eyes. He could barely open his eyes, his vision was filled with blood red, and his ears were full of his own gasping sounds coming from his lungs.

Until the lazy voice of the assessing senior brother sounded: “Zhang Duixue, cultivation level fifth realm, swordsmanship test, pass.”

Only then did he heave a sigh of relief, swayed twice, and finally collapsed relaxedly, caught by a cold embrace.

Today’s swordsmanship test finally had its first passer.

Xie Xuanxiao’s face was as dark as water. He spread out his outer robe, wrapped up his extremely wretched lover, carried him horizontally in his arms, and strode away.

Passing by He Tingtong, a bruised and purple face suddenly struggled out, speaking toughly to him: “I passed!”

“I, passed!” He emphasized word by word, tilting his head up and staring fiercely at He Tingtong, as if wanting to beat him up with his eyes.

“I saw it.” He Tingtong nodded, his tone carrying a hint of a smile. “Mm, just now I had eyes but failed to recognize Mount Tai. I didn’t know Fellow Daoist Zhang was so formidable. My apologies.”

Seeing his sincere attitude, Zhang Duixue choked instead, reluctantly uttering an “Oh.”

…

He added, “Don’t judge people by their appearance in the future!”

He Tingtong nodded, “Fellow Daoist Zhang is right to lecture me, I’ll remember it.”

On the arena, Qin Tan’s puppet unfolded its long sword, beating a group of people until they were looking for their teeth all over the floor. Names were crossed off one by one, and in a flash, it was He Tingtong’s turn. He drew the snow-white long sword from his waist and placed it behind his back. “It’s my turn, please make way, Young Palace Master Xie.”

Xie Xuanxiao stepped aside. He Tingtong stepped onto the arena, his straight shoulders and back like a simple long sword. He turned his wrist, looking at the Qin Tan carved out of wood.

He decided to fight hard with heavy force this time.

Fifty years ago, the young Qin Tan was amazingly brilliant, but his swordsmanship at that time was not impeccable, as long as one could study it long enough.

The sword rose, white blades clashing. One momentum was wide open and sweeping, the other treacherous and unpredictable. The sword light was like a point of fluorescent star, flickering uncertainly on the small arena. Zhang Duixue couldn’t help but widen his eyes. Xie Xuanxiao, however, didn’t want to watch anymore. Holding the person, he went straight out of the Sword Pavilion.

As he stepped over the threshold, he suddenly heard a crack from inside, sounding like wood breaking.

At night, the assessing disciples from various places in Azure Cloud Academy reported to the Dean.

This year’s Azure Cloud preliminary test wasn’t too smooth. First, two spirit-testing stones exploded, probably due to disrepair over the years. Later, in the Sword Pavilion, the Guili Sword Master puppet had its sword cut off. On the same day, in the Heavenly Sound Pavilion, music cultivators fought with each other, smashing the Green Ripple Platform with a scorched-tail zither. Not to mention the array cultivators, where a group drew wrong talismans, exploded arrays, and caused spiritual chaos…

Just a preliminary test, and Azure Cloud Academy was truly in chaos, suffering heavy losses.